Self-oiling pulley.



A. W. WIGGLESWORTH.

SELF OILING'PULLEY.

nrmonmx FILED JULY 13,1908.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

m: nouns FETlRS cm, wnsnmaron, n. c.

ALBERT W. WIGGLES'WORTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SELF-OILING PULLEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 13, 1908.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

Serial No. 443,193.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT W. WIccLEs- WORTH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSelf-Oiling Pulleys and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in self oiling pulleys and theobject of the in vention is to provide an inexpensive and simple pulleyhaving a chamber for retaining a lubricant which is applied to thepulley shaft as required, said chamber being arranged to prevent wasteof the lubricant therefrom.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings :F igure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fastand loose pulley, and the shaft thereof, showing a loose pulleyembracing my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on line 22 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fast and loose pulley,showing my improvements applied to another form of loose pulley. Fig. 4is a cross-section taken on line 4.1 of Fig. 3.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings, 10 designates a loose pulleyrotatably mounted on a shaft 11, and 12 designates a fixed pulley onsaid shaft, said pulley being fixed to said shaft by a set screw 13extending through the hub 14: of the fast pulley and impinging on theshaft. The said loose pulley 10 comprises a central hub 15, a rim 16,and radial connecting arms or spokes 17, said parts being made integralwith each other. The hub of the loose pulley is mounted between the hub14 of the tight pulley and a collar 18 which is fixed to the shaft 11,as by means of a set screw 19. Said loose pulley is provided with an oilchamber, the walls of which are made an integral part of the wheelstructure. The said oil chamber, in the present instance, extendsentirely around the hub of the pulley and comprises an outer circularwall 20, made integral with the spokes or arms 17 of the loose pulley,and radial end walls 21, 21 which are centrally apertured for thepassage of the shaft therethrough. chamber are located longitudinallyexterior to the hub of the pulley and are arranged opposite to partswhich are fixed on and rotate with the shaft on each side of the loosepulley hub, to-wit, the hub of the fast pulley and the collar 18, asherein shown. The said parts which rotate wit-h the shaft and which arelocated at the ends of the loose pulley hub are provided, just insidethe end walls 21 of the oil chamber, with annular grooves 22, 22 whichprevent any free oil which may drip upon said rotating parts escapingfrom the chamber, inasmuch as such free oil will not pass the groovedsurfaces of the rotating parts. Such grooves may, in some instances, beformed directly in the shaft, and the same results may be produced byannular ribs in place of the grooves when the presence of such ribs ispracticable. The said chamber is filled with a suitable medium forretaining the oil therein, as, for instance, a mass of cotton waste orthe like. The means herein shown for directing the oil to the surface ofthe shaft consists of a wick 25 arranged partly in a longitudinal groovein the bore of the pulley hub, and said wick extends through radialnotches at the ends of said groove into the oil chamber. Said. wick liesagainst the shaft and acts by capillary attraction, in a familiarmanner, to direct the oil from the chamber to the surface of the shaftand apply the oil to the shaft.

It will be observed that the walls of the chamber constitute integralparts of the pulley structure. Thus my improvements may be inexpensivelyapplied to a pulley inasmuch as the pulley and chamber are cast in onepiece and no assembling and fitting of parts is required. Moreover, byreason of The end walls of the oil the integrality of the chamber andpulley,

the parts constituting the chamber cannot become loosened or displacedso as to interfere with the function of the chamber as a means forretaining a lubricant around the pulley bearing. The wick is threadedinto place and the waste or lubricant retaining material is insertedinto the chamber through the spaces between the inner annular edges ofthe end walls 21 and the ends of the pulley hub before the pulley ismounted on the shaft.

The presence of the grooves 22 in the parts rotating with the shaft, oron the shaft itself, located within the end walls of the chamber formsannular depressed surfaces or shoulders which prevent the escape of freeoil which may find its way to said rotating parts, the said annularsurfaces operloose pulley 30 is made of such size, relatively, to thelubricating chamber, that the rim 31 of said pulley constitutes theouter wall of the oil chamber. The hub 32 of said loose pulley occupiesthe same relation to the end walls 33 of the oil chamber, as in thepreviously described construction, said hub terminating a distanceinside said walls. In other respects the construction is like that shownin Fig. 2.

It is apparent that I have provided an exceedingly simple, durable andeflicient lubricating device for pulleys and one which requires butlittle attention to keep the same filled with a lubricating material.

I claim as my invention The combination with a shaft, of a fixed and aloose pulley thereon, said loose pulley being provided with an oilchamber which surrounds the hub thereof and the walls of which are madeintegral with said hub, fibrous material located in said chamber, theend walls of said chamber being extended beyond the ends of the hub andprovided with central openings for the passage of the shaft and to formbetween said hub ends and the end walls of the chamber annular openingsinto the chamber through which the said fibrous lubricating material maybe inserted, a fixed sleeve on said shaft, the hub of said fixed pulleyand said fixed sleeve extending through said central openings of saidend walls and abutting against the ends of the loose pulley hub to holdthe loose pulley in place, and means for conducting the lubricant fromthe said chamber to the intkerior bearing surface of the loose pulley huIn testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses, this 6th day of July A. D.1908.

ALBERT W. WIGGLESWORTH.

Witnesses:

W. DITFURTH, L. L. CARLTON.

